Former President Omar Al-Bashir speaks to the People’s Assembly in Khartoum, following the inauguration of the new state of South Sudan. AFP
Former President Omar Al-Bashir speaks to the People’s Assembly in Khartoum, following the inauguration of the new state of South Sudan. AFP

2019 - The downfall of Sudan’s Omar Al-Bashir

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Updated 19 April 2025
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2019 - The downfall of Sudan’s Omar Al-Bashir

2019 - The downfall of Sudan’s Omar Al-Bashir
  • After 30 years in charge, the leader was removed by the military after mass protests

LONDON: During his 30 years in charge of Sudan, President Omar Al-Bashir seemed to thrive on conflict. Whether it was with the southern half of his country, the people of Darfur, the US, or the Islamist ideologues who had helped him gain power, the former paratrooper ruled amid a perpetual state of military and political war.

When the Sudanese people took to the streets against him for what would be the final time, at the end of 2018, it was a battle too far for the then-75-year-old. Al-Bashir was removed from power in April 2019 by the military after months of protests against his rule.

That some of his closest confidants were among those who ousted him showed how his pillars of domestic and international support had collapsed from beneath him.

For the protesters who had braved his security forces to voice their desire for change, the moment was bittersweet; Al-Bashir was gone but the military and senior figures from his regime were now in control.

His legacy was one of bloodshed, extremism, international isolation and economic ruin. At the time of his downfall, he was the only leader of a nation wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity and genocide.

Born to a farming family north of Khartoum in 1944, Al-Bashir joined the military after high school and rose through the ranks to become a member of an elite parachute regiment. He was deployed to fight alongside Egyptian forces in the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, and in the 1980s he was involved in campaigns against southern rebels as part of Sudan’s decades-long civil war.

In 1989, he led the military overthrow of the democratically elected government of Sadiq Al-Mahdi. The coup was orchestrated by Hassan Al-Turabi, an Islamist scholar and leader of the National Islamic Front, an offshoot of the Sudanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.

How we wrote it




Omar Al-Bashir’s ousting dominated Arab News’ front page with the headline “The end of Sudan’s 30-year nightmare.”

Al-Bashir banned political parties and dissolved the parliament, while Al-Turabi acted as the ideological spine of the new regime. They swiftly introduced a hardline interpretation of Islamic law, a move that served to intensify the war raging in the south, where most of the population is Christian or animist (people who believe that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence that can influence human events). The conflict is estimated to have claimed the lives of at least 2 million people.

Al-Bashir extended his allegiance with hardline Islamism by hosting Osama bin Laden, who had been expelled from Saudi Arabia, between 1992 and 1996. It was a move that was to prove disastrous for his country, as the US placed Sudan on its list of “state sponsors of terrorism” and imposed comprehensive sanctions against it.

In 1999, when his alliance with Al-Turabi crumbled, Al-Bashir removed him from his position as speaker of the parliament and threw him in jail. Within a few years, the president was to oversee the darkest episode of his rein.

Rebels in the Darfur region in the west of the country took up arms against the government in 2003. Al-Bashir’s response was swift and brutal. His regime deployed militias, known as the Janjaweed, to unleash a scorched-earth policy of murder, rape and looting against local populations.

The UN estimates that about 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million displaced during the conflict. In 2009, the ICC indicted Al-Bashir, accusing him of having “an essential role” in the atrocities.

In the eyes of many people, it was the breakaway of South Sudan in 2011 that marked the beginning of the end for him. The secession took with it much of Sudan’s oil-producing regions, depriving Khartoum of a key source of revenue and precipitating a steep economic decline.

Key Dates

  • 1

    Sudanese Army Gen. Omar Al-Bashir seizes power in military coup.

    Timeline Image June 30, 1989

  • 2

    International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant charging him with war crimes in Darfur.

    Timeline Image March 4, 2009

  • 3

    Al-Bashir deposed and arrested in military coup.

    Timeline Image April 11, 2019

  • 4

    Moved from house arrest to a maximum-security prison.

  • 5

    Charged with “inciting and participating” in killing of protesters.

  • 6

    Convicted on corruption charges, he is sentenced to 2 years in a reform facility.

  • 7

    Sudan’s military-civilian Sovereign Council hints it is prepared to hand over Al-Bashir to the ICC, where he is still wanted on charges of war crimes and genocide.

  • 8

    Al-Bashir goes on trial in Khartoum over the 1989 coup that brought him to power.

    Timeline Image July 21, 2020

  • 9

    Sudanese army, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, takes control of the government in a military coup.

    Timeline Image Oct. 25, 2021

  • 10

    Clashes between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces break out in Khartoum, marking start of civil war.

    Timeline Image April 15, 2023

  • 11

    Al-Bashir moved to Merowe hospital, 450 km north of Khartoum.

Al-Bashir was forced to try to rebuild relations with the West and China, and to shift his allegiances in the Middle East away from Iran and back toward the Arab Gulf countries from which he had managed to ostracize himself.

Years of economic problems came to a head in December 2018, when his government tripled the price of bread and public protests began. Al-Bashir desperately attempted to cling to power, appearing at a rally in January 2019 during which he called the demonstrators “traitors” and “rats.” In the months of protests that followed, dozens of people were killed by security forces and thousands thrown in jail.

On April 6, 2019, tens of thousands of protesters set up camp outside the Defense Ministry in Khartoum, where Al-Bashir’s residence was also located. Early on April 11, he was informed that the country’s most senior military and security officials had removed him from power.

This historic moment dominated the front page of Arab News the next day, a mark of both the scale of the story and the political and economic links between Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

“The end of Sudan’s 30-year nightmare” read the headline to the main story, accompanied by a photo of a smiling girl waving the Sudanese flag amid the celebrations in Khartoum.

The front page also featured an opinion piece by the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Faisal J. Abbas, which asked “What next for the Sudanese?” His article highlighted the number of people from the country he had met who had fled Al-Bashir’s regime bound for Europe and beyond, often highly educated doctors and other professionals who would never return.

“The Al-Bashir regime did not mind watching institution after institution fail,” Abbas wrote. “It oversaw Sudan’s becoming one of the poorest in the region, despite its abundant resources.”




Sudanese protesters gather around a banner depicting ousted president Al-Bashir during rally outside the army headquarters in Khartoum. AFP

After his downfall, Al-Bashir was held at Kober prison in Khartoum, the same facility in which many of his opponents had been detained after he ordered their arrests.

Outside the prison walls, Sudan struggled to move forward, with protests continuing until a deal was struck in August 2019 that led to the establishment of a sovereign council comprising both civilian and military officials.

What came next was a catalog of setbacks for the aspirations of the Sudanese people, which ultimately plunged their country into a catastrophic civil war that rages to this day.

In October 2021, the military staged a coup, dissolved the power-sharing agreement with the civilian leaders and arrested many of them. With power fully back in their hands, however, the generals struggled to make headway against a deepening economic crisis and ongoing protests.

Amid the turmoil, tensions grew between the head of the army, Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as “Hemedti,” who commanded rival paramilitary faction the Rapid Support Forces.

These two disparate characters, who had formed a shaky partnership after Al-Bashir’s downfall, became locked in a power struggle, clashing over how the powerful RSF should merge with the army.




Rapid Support Forces fighters ride in the back of a pickup truck mounted with a turret in the East Nile district of greater Khartoum. Screengrab/AFP

On April 15, 2023, fighting between the two forces broke out in Khartoum and quickly spread to other major towns across the vast country. The nightmare scenario of another devastating conflict in Sudan had come to fruition. It has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and plunged some regions into a famine the UN warns could spread further.

That Al-Bashir allowed the RSF to emerge out of the Janjaweed militias from the Darfur conflict, and become a powerful military counterweight to threats against him from within the army, means the ongoing conflict is yet another part of his dark legacy.

With no end to the fighting in sight and the international community focused on wars elsewhere, the Sudanese who had dared to dream of a brighter future beyond the shadow of Al-Bashir will continue to suffer.

As for the former dictator himself, he was sentenced to two years in prison in December 2019 for corruption. A trial began in 2020 related to his actions during the 1989 coup that brought him to power, but a verdict was never reached.

Now in his 80s, time might be running out for Al-Bashir’s victims in Darfur to see him handed over to the ICC and brought to justice. With his health reportedly deteriorating, he was moved in September 2024 to a hospital 450 kilometers north of Khartoum, a safe distance from the fighting raging across the country.

  • Jonathan Lessware is a UK-based journalist at Arab News and former foreign editor of The National in Abu Dhabi.


Pro-Palestine demonstrators mark Nakba anniversary with rally in London

Pro-Palestine demonstrators mark Nakba anniversary with rally in London
Updated 1 min 50 sec ago
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Pro-Palestine demonstrators mark Nakba anniversary with rally in London

Pro-Palestine demonstrators mark Nakba anniversary with rally in London
  • Protesters demand UK government action to halt Gaza conflict
  • Mass rally passes central London landmarks, including Downing Street

LONDON: Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through central London on Saturday to mark the 77th anniversary of the Nakba.

The word, which means “catastrophe” in Arabic, refers to the mass displacement of Palestinians during the creation of Israel in 1948. The UN estimates more than half the Palestinian population was permanently displaced.

The march, which was organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, began at Embankment and passed key landmarks, including Big Ben and Downing Street, with protesters calling on the UK government to take action over the war in Gaza.

The PSC said the protest aimed to “mark the 77th anniversary of the 1948 Nakba and demand our government take action to end the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their land,” The Independent reported.

This year’s commemoration came amid reports that the Trump administration has been in talks with Libya about resettling up to a million Palestinians from Gaza in exchange for billions of dollars.

The proposal has drawn comparisons to the Nakba and widespread international criticism.

A PSC spokesperson said they expected around 100,000 attendees from across the UK, describing the turnout as larger than recent demonstrations. “We expected around 100,000 people to attend the London march,” the spokesperson said.

However, London’s Metropolitan Police estimated the crowd at around 20,000 and enforced Public Order Act conditions that restricted protesters to designated areas.

A small counter-protest organized by Stop The Hate gathered on the Strand, waving Israeli flags and remaining in an area outlined by police at the north end of Waterloo Bridge.

Pro-Palestinian protests in the UK reached their height following the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people in Israel, and the subsequent Israeli military response in Gaza, in which 53,000 people have been killed.

Nearly all the enclave’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced.

That November, a march held on Armistice Day drew an estimated 300,000 people, the largest to date since the war began.

Negotiations to end the war have so far stalled, with both Hamas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resisting proposed ceasefires. Netanyahu’s government recently approved new plans for further attacks in Gaza.

Humanitarian agencies and global leaders have continued to call on Israel to allow the delivery of vital aid into the besieged territory.

Also on Saturday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for increased pressure “to halt the massacre in Gaza” at an Arab League summit in Iraq, while UN chief Antonio Guterres told the Baghdad meeting “we need a permanent ceasefire, now.”


Israel plans to force Gazans into 3 security zones, leaked map shows

Israel plans to force Gazans into 3 security zones, leaked map shows
Updated 8 min 13 sec ago
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Israel plans to force Gazans into 3 security zones, leaked map shows

Israel plans to force Gazans into 3 security zones, leaked map shows
  • Enclave to be divided by IDF areas if ceasefire talks with Hamas fail
  • Palestinian civilians will be forbidden from traveling freely across Gaza

LONDON: Israel is planning to force Palestinians in Gaza into three security zones separated by four military-occupied areas if a ceasefire with Hamas is not reached in the coming days.

A map of the plan was leaked by diplomats and seen by the Sunday Times. It shows four Israeli military zones in the north, center and south of the Gaza Strip, with three civilian areas in between.

It is understood that civilians will be forbidden from traveling between each area without permission, while goods will undergo security screening.

Humanitarian distribution companies said the restrictions would separate Palestinians from their land and homes, and prevent them from moving throughout the enclave.

An Israeli military spokesman declined to confirm or deny the plan — entitled “Stage three: the complete takeover of Gaza” — when asked by the Sunday Times.

According to the plan, a military corridor will be constructed north of Khan Younis, modeled on the existing Netzarim Corridor south of Gaza City.

Sources said Israeli bulldozers will begin to empty land from the area ahead of construction. The corridor will separate the civilian sections north of Rafah and south of the Netzarim Corridor.

The Israeli military will also widen the buffer zone between Israel and Gaza, with the leaked map showing a huge perimeter around the entire enclave.

Creating the new army zones in the center of Gaza, as well as the expanded buffer zone, will take at least three weeks. It is part of the first stage of Israel’s long-term strategy to conquer Gaza.

The leaked map also shows about a dozen sites within the new civilian areas, believed to be the locations of new humanitarian distribution centers.

The launch of a new purported humanitarian model is part of a widely condemned plan by Israel to bypass the UN and charities, and use private companies to deliver aid.

Since March, Israel has imposed a total blockade on the entry of humanitarian goods into Gaza.


Members of major UK supermarket chain vote to boycott Israeli goods

Members of major UK supermarket chain vote to boycott Israeli goods
Updated 20 min 19 sec ago
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Members of major UK supermarket chain vote to boycott Israeli goods

Members of major UK supermarket chain vote to boycott Israeli goods
  • Motion calls for Co-op Group to take ‘all Israeli products off the shelves’
  • Palestine Solidarity Campaign: Any trade with Israeli agricultural firms risks supporting oppression

LONDON: Members of one of the UK’s biggest supermarket chains have voted to end all trading with Israel at its annual general meeting.

The motion was put to members of the Co-op Group in light of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, and its blockade of the Palestinian enclave preventing vital humanitarian aid reaching civilians.

In the motion, members called on the Co-op’s management to “show moral courage and leadership” by taking “all Israeli products off the shelves.”

Paul Neill, an activist who helped put the motion to a vote, said: “We are delighted to say that the motion was passed by a clear majority of Co-op members, reflecting widespread condemnation among the British public for the actions of Israel.

“This is a historic moment for a UK supermarket chain and puts down a marker for other supermarkets and retailers.”

In a press release, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign — which has been running a “Don’t Buy Apartheid” campaign for shops and restaurants to avoid Israeli goods and those of companies linked to the country — cited Israel’s “genocide in Gaza and decades of oppression of Palestinian people by military occupation and apartheid” as key drivers of the vote to sever ties, and called on the Co-op to implement the motion and cease selling Israeli products in its stores.

Lewis Backon, campaigns officer for the PSC, said: “Meaningful solidarity actions could not be more urgent as Palestinians continue to face Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip, and its military attacks, land grabs and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank.

“The Co-op AGM vote shows ordinary people in this country are committed to the cause of justice and freedom for Palestine in their everyday lives and refuse to support Israel’s apartheid economy.

“The Co-op must now listen to its members, and implement the motion by taking all Israeli goods off the shelves.”

The PSC said many Israeli goods “such as avocados, peppers, herbs and dates” are common in UK supermarkets.

“Millions in Britain have taken to the streets to oppose Israel’s genocide and the UK government’s complicity in it through military, diplomatic and financial support,” it added.

Israeli agricultural companies — including Hadiklaim, Mehadrin and Edom — “operate farms and packing houses in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank,” the PSC said.

It added that the Co-op had previously pledged to stop stocking goods from illegal settlements, but that any business done with Israeli agricultural exporters “supports their role as participants in Israel’s colonisation and military occupation of Palestinian land.

“Moreover, campaigners point out that these companies benefit from Israel’s systematic destruction of Palestinian agriculture through exploiting the Palestinian captive market, and contribute tax revenue to the Israeli state, which in turn helps it fund its genocide and apartheid against Palestinians.”

According to an International Court of Justice decision last July, the “appropriation of Palestinian resources like water is a war crime,” the PSC said.

“All states have an obligation not to render aid or assistance to Israel in these violations of international law.”


Dortmund, Frankfurt clinch Champions League qualification on final day of Bundesliga

Dortmund, Frankfurt clinch Champions League qualification on final day of Bundesliga
Updated 30 min 26 sec ago
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Dortmund, Frankfurt clinch Champions League qualification on final day of Bundesliga

Dortmund, Frankfurt clinch Champions League qualification on final day of Bundesliga
  • Dortmund clinched fourth place and the last for Champions League qualification
  • It’s a remarkable turnaround under coach Niko Kovač

FRANKFURT: Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt qualified for the Champions League on the last day of the Bundesliga on Saturday, leaving Freiburg to be content reaching the Europa League.

Dortmund clinched fourth place and the last for Champions League qualification after a 3-0 home win over already-relegated Holstein Kiel, which played with 10 men after less than 10 minutes.

It’s a remarkable turnaround under coach Niko Kovač, who took over in February when Dortmund were languishing in 11th place. Dortmund won their last five Bundesliga games.

Frankfurt stayed third with a 3-1 win in Freiburg, which dropped to fifth as a result, two points behind Dortmund. Freiburg needed to win to qualify for the Champions League in place of Frankfurt.

Mainz overcame three disallowed goals and drew with Bayer Leverkusen 2-2 to qualify for the Conference League in sixth place, a point ahead of Leipzig, which missed out on European qualification after losing at home to Stuttgart 3-2.

Stuttgart next faces Arminia Bielefeld in the German Cup final next weekend.

Kane scores again
Bayern Munich, which clinched the title with two rounds to spare, finished the season a 4-0 winner at Hoffenheim in Thomas Müller’s last Bundesliga game for the club. It was his 503rd.

Harry Kane replaced Müller for the last half hour and set up Serge Gnabry for Bayern’s third goal before he completed the scoring with his league-leading 26th.

It’s the second consecutive year Kane has finished as the Bundesliga top-scorer.

Leverkusen record
While Mainz were playing for European qualification, Leverkusen were thinking of the future in the last game for the club for coach Xabi Alonso and some players.

Mainz had two early goals ruled out for offside then another ruled out through VAR before Anthony Caci finally gave the home team a deserved lead.

But Leverkusen emerged a different side after the break. Patrik Schick scored twice to jeopardize Mainz’s European spot.

A Jonathan Burkardt penalty kept Mainz ahead of Leipzig, which twice squandered a lead against Stuttgart.

It was Leverkusen’s 34th away game without defeat, a new Bundesliga record.

Other results
Heidenheim stayed in the relegation playoff place after losing at home to Werder Bremen 4-1. Frank Schmidt’s team next faces a two-leg playoff against the side that finishes third in the second division to determine which play in the Bundesliga next season.

Bottom club Bochum, relegated last weekend, signed off with a 2-0 win at St. Pauli for their first victory since beating Bayern 3-2 away in early March.

Wolfsburg won at Borussia Mönchenglabach 1-0 and Union Berlin won in Augsburg 2-1.


Syrian foreign minister hails sanctions relief, pushes for inclusive recovery at Arab Summit

Syrian foreign minister hails sanctions relief, pushes for inclusive recovery at Arab Summit
Updated 53 min 12 sec ago
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Syrian foreign minister hails sanctions relief, pushes for inclusive recovery at Arab Summit

Syrian foreign minister hails sanctions relief, pushes for inclusive recovery at Arab Summit
  • Asaad Al-Shaibani says Syria entering a new phase ‘that embraces diversity, guarantees representation, preserves dignity’
  • ‘Syria is for all Syrians, with no place for marginalization or exclusion,’ FM tells Baghdad forum

BAGHDAD: Syria has begun taking serious steps toward national recovery and reconciliation, based on a commitment to inclusivity and sovereignty, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani said on Saturday during his address at the 34th Arab Summit in Baghdad.

Delivering his country’s remarks at the high-level gathering, Al-Shaibani said Syria was entering a new phase of “inclusive national dialogue that embraces diversity, guarantees representation, and preserves dignity.”

He added that the move marked what he described as an unprecedented effort to rebuild the nation on foundations that reject marginalization and exclusion.

“Syria is for all Syrians, with no place for marginalization or exclusion,” he declared, underlining the country’s refusal to accept “guardianship” or to serve as a battleground for external conflicts.

Al-Shaibani also welcomed the recent decision by US President Donald Trump to lift sanctions imposed on Syria, a move he hailed as a “positive and important step” on the path to national reconstruction.

He credited “sincere Arab diplomatic efforts” for helping to bring about the breakthrough.

The minister extended special thanks to Saudi Arabia and Turkiye for their role as effective mediators at a “pivotal historical moment,” and expressed deep gratitude to Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, and member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council for their support during what he called a “delicate stage” for Syria.

“Lifting the sanctions is not the end, but rather the beginning of a path that we hope will be paved with real cooperation and the integration of Arab efforts,” he said.

He also stressed the need to work together to bolster regional development, safeguard Arab national security, and enhance overall stability.

Al-Shaibani revealed that Syria was finalizing preparations for a national parliament that would represent the full spectrum of Syrian society, alongside efforts to draft a permanent constitution aimed at protecting rights, upholding sovereignty, and establishing the rule of law.

“Any project aimed at weakening or dividing the Syrian state under any pretext is categorically rejected by the Syrian state and people in all their components,” he said.